On this day in 1924 Essex's John Douglas stops a defrauder in his tracks.

Holman Arthur Medley, 39, was charged on remand from Stratford Police Court after attempting to obtain £2 (£85 in modern money) from Douglas.

On August 23, Douglas received a call at the Army Sports Ground in Leyton from a man who gave his name as Hill. Douglas, who had an associate by that name, heard that one of Hill's lorries had broken down at the side of the road and he needed the loan of £2 wired to him for repairs. Douglas said he would but then rang the police and the suspect was arrested. Medley admitted everything at the police station.

Medley's story in itself is interesting. He came from a good family but started his life of crime early. He was convicted for theft in 1911 but joined up during the Second World War and rose to the rank of Commissioner. After the war he fell on bad times after having been sacked from his job at the Metropolitan Water Board due to drink. He fell in with a friend who was associating with a group often running fraudulent activities. At the courthouse it was revealed he had been targeting high profile characters for some time. It was not even his first cricketing fraud having previously extracted £1 from the chairman of the MCC. From one unnamed source he had defrauded as much as £30 (£1275).

Due to his honesty the prisoner was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 2016 Karachi maul Islamabad in a National T20 Cup game.

A strong partnership between Ahsan Ali and Asad Shafiq gave Karachi an impressive 182 total in the first innings. Both batsmen performed at a great rate of knots with the former getting 85 off 52 balls and Shafiq got 73 off 46.

In reply Islamabad were poor. Two of the top three were dismissed for single figure scores. Adil Amin and Naeem Anjum tried to mount a resistance when they both scored a quickfire 22 runs. The topscorer for Islamabad was a 44* for Shehzad Azam but it proved too little too late as the Northern team collapsed for 138.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 2015 a century performance from James Taylor hands England win over Australia.

England batted first and were soon mourning the loss of big hitting Hales for just 9. Jason Roy and Taylor then put this behind them and ploughed on. Roy scored aggressively whilst Taylor was (slightly) more circumspect. After they had put on 34 together, Roy was dismissed on 63 by Ashton Agar and replaced by Eoin Morgan who continued the big hitting trend. Supported by Morgan, Taylor began to come out of his shell and by the time the next wicket fell the score was 205. After Morgan was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell, Taylor struggled to find partners as a procession of batsmen went cheaply. Johnny Bairstow's 17 was the largest contribution from the lower order whilst three other batsmen could only muster 1. It looked like Taylor might have carried his bat but was out in the dying overs for a 167 ball 101. England's total was 300-8. Pat Cummins was the Australian bowler with the best figures as he removed Hales and Moeen Ali.

The Australian batsmen did not let themselves down but could not string together the big partnerships that England did. They lost the early wicket of Rory Burns off the bowling of Steven Finn but Aaron Finch and Steve Smith put on 42 before the captain was dismissed on 25 from the spin of Adil Rashid. Finch then joined forces with George Bailey for another decent partnership of 31 but the senior partner was out to make the score 106-3. From there any partnerships were hard to come by. Matthew Wade found success in the middle order as he tried to shepherd the tail to a decent score but the result seemed decided. Wade was last man out on 42 - the second wicket for Finn. Australia were all out for 207. England's Ali had figures of 3-32 and had claimed the scalps of Bailey, Maxwell and Mitchell Starc.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 1788 George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester, politician, diplomat and part time Cricketer dies as a direct effect of his hobby.

After playing in a more frenetic game of cricket than he was used to, the Duke of Manchester had to rest for a long while upon wet grass. From this it is believed he contracted a cold from which he died a few days later.

He is the seven times great grandfather of the current Duke of Manchester, Alexander Montagu

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

The disproportionate game was a feature of Victorian cricket but the most starkly outbalanced one came from the 1930s. The rules were simple. Two professional cricketers against a village team with the only change to the rules being that the two men could change their bowling whenever. The two men selected were Bert Wensley of Sussex and Bill Ashdown of Kent who would face up to the Isle of Oxney.

The game got quite some publicity and was even broadcast on BBC radio this was replicated in the stands with 3000 people in attendance.

Oxney batted first. The innings lasted just under 25 overs. Bill Catt, a local brickie, made the game look incredibly easy for the amateurs as he got 68 runs. With the score at 102-2 the pair of professionals looked like they were facing a losing battle however a collapse was imminent. From 102, the villagers were all out for 153. Wensley got five wickets with Ashdown getting a (displeasing unsymmetrical) 4.

The pressure that the two professionals felt going in must have been immense however the pair not only matched the Oxney total but overhauled it. Wensley was first and last man out for a score of 96 with Ashdown on 83.

The game was supposed to encompass a second innings but rain stopped any further play but it was very much a victory for the professionals.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 2016 Australia record the highest T20 score against Sri Lanka.

Glenn Maxwell was the star of the show as Australia stormed to victory against Sri Lanka. He scored a 65-ball 145* when he was a last minute replacement for Aaron Finch.

Despite Maxwell taking the headlines, it was David Warner that began the most aggressively with a 16 ball 28 however when he was dismissed by Sachithra Senanayake, Maxwell went big from there. He got his half-century off 27 balls and then converted it into his second international century.

In comparison Sri Lanka's batting seemed unimpressive but they made a decent fist of the chase - especially after a poor start. Tillakratne Dilshan was bowled by Mitchell Starc for a mere 4. Kusal Mendis looked like he might get the show back on the road with an elegant 22 but he was out off Moises Henriques in the eight over.

The last push came off the largest partnership for Sri Lanka from Dinesh Chandimal and Chamara Kapugedera which yielded 44 off 29 balls but both fell before the end for 58 and 43 respectively. Sri Lanka could only get to 178-9 - handing Australia an 85 run win.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 1963 Sussex win the first domestic English one day trophy against Worcestershire.

Worcestershire began the day in the field and began offensively, clearly looking to bowl Sussex out rather than stifle them. They deployed their spinners far more than they had throughout the rest of the tournament in an effort to bamboozle the Sussex batsmen. This had some success with only Jim Parks getting over 50. The opening partnership of Alan Oakman and Richard Langridge started brightly with an opening stand of 62. When Norman Gifford dismissed them both in the same over the Sussex innings became a procession. It was Gifford who was most destructive for Worcestershire, finishing with figures of 4-33. Sussex had posted 168.

In reply, Sussex's mission objective was quite the opposite; smother their opposition and defend their low total. From the outset, Ted Dexter's field was super defensive and designed to make run scoring a near impossibility. Don Kenyon and Martin Horton were both out cheaply, leaving the impetus on Ron Headley and Tom Graveney. Headley was in for two and a half hours but his run scoring was negligible. Graveney became frustrated and tried to accelerate and was out with the score on 103. Headley soon followed. John Snow turned the screw with three quick wickets to humble Worcestershire to 133-9. Worcestershire needed 36 off 8 overs.

Roy Booth fought hard to make a fist of it. He seemed liberated from the shackles his predecessors had endured and ended not out with his side 15 away from the total.

The One Day format proved very popular and was deemed a success in its inaugural year.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

On this day in 1925 Percy Chapman dominates as a ringer in a Brewery team.

Professional Percy Chapman formed a team of Brewery workers and turned out for them occasionally. On this day they faced off against the Elham Division of the police.

The police batted first and were making steady progress until Chapman, a batsman by trade, came on and bowled some filth which saw off the coppers. He ended with 4 wickets and the police were on 151.

The Brewery team found themselves in trouble when their first three batsmen were out for a duck. This trouble did not stop as batsmen five, six, seven and eight were also out for nought. The difference was batsman number four, Percy Chapman. He scored 183. The first batsmen to join him in any run scoring was the second to last man in who got two. The last man got 4. In their total of 201, Chapman scored 91% of the runs.

Chapman would go on to greater things by captaining England to Ashes victory.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

I've very much enjoyed it but it is hugely time consuming. Things are getting bit tight at work and have found myself stressing myself out for something I'm supposed to enjoy.

Please feel free to use this thread for any random on this day stuff.

Thanks all.

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."

"It has been said of the unseen army of the dead, on their everlasting march, that when they are passing a rural cricket ground the Englishman falls out of the ranks for a moment to look over the gate and smile."